Alfred higgins and frederick wilkinson



(No Model.)

. A. HIGGINS & I. WILKINSON.

BLBAGHING AND DYEING PIBROUS MATERIALS.

No. 273,078. Patented I'eb.27, 1883..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF CE.

ALFRED HIGGINS AND FREDERIGK WILKINSON, OF MANCHESTER, COUNTY OFLANCASTER, ENGLAND.

BLEACHING AND DYEIN G FIBROUS MATERIALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 273,078, dated February27, 1883.

Application filed June 12, 1%82. (No model.)

- To all whom itmay concern Be it known that we, ALFRED HIGGINS andFREDERICK WILKINSON, subjects of the Queen of Great Britain, residing atManchesteuin the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Bleaching and Dyeing Fibrous Materials; andwe do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In Patent No. 241,464, granted to Frederick Wilkinson, May 10, 1881, aredescribed a process and devices for bleaching and dyeing cotton andother fibrous material while in the condition .known as sliver or lap.

The object of this invention is more particularly to further improve theprocess described in said patent. This invention, however, is applicableto any process for treating skeins or a lap or long, narrow bat offiber.

trate thedevices for carryingout our invention,

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the machine throughwhich the lap is passed to saturate, bleach, oil, or dye it, with aswift or reel for collecting the lap. Fig. 2 is an end and Fig. 3 a sideelevation of the swift placed near steam-pipes for drying the lap uponit.

To a suitable stand or frame, A, is secured a cistern,B,filled withwater kept to any desired temperature, preferably by means ofsteampipes. In this cistern B is secured another cistern or pan, 0,which contains the liquid with which it is desired to treat the fiber,whether for oiling, bleaching, or dyeing. A

roller, D, is journaled in boxes secured to the frame A near the middleof the cistern 0, and is caused to rotate by belt or gearing inanywell-known way. Other rollers, ddd d 0 d 01, are inounted on eachside of the roller D in boxes adapted to slide in ways secured to theframe A, and are kept pressed against each other and the roller D bymeans of the'weighted levers F F, pivoted to the frame, and having onearm bearing on the boxes of the outer rollers. By raising the weightedarms of the levers the rolls can be separated to any required distance.It is evident that when the rollers are held in contact with each otherby the weights on the levers F F, and the roller D caused to revolve,the other rollers will revolve with it, and that a sliver of cotton orthe like, when passed between the outer rollers and alternately over andunder the others, will 6 be drawn along b v the friction of the rollers.These rollers dip into or may be entirely immersed in the liquid in thecistern 0, so that the lap becomes thoroughly saturated as it is drawnthrough by the rollers. Heretofore the sheet, on leaving the rollers ordrying-cylinders, has been made into a solid roll, in the usual mannerin which aroll or lap is made on an opener or scutching-machine, oriscollected in some receptacle.

By our present invention we dispense with the mode of drying andcollecting shown in the patent above mentioned, and instead we attach toany or all of the machines shown in that patent, or to a machine such asis shown in the accompanying drawings, a swift, H, similar to what isordinarily used in reeling spun yarn. This swift H is mounted inbearings supported by brackets attached to the frame A, and hasa'pulley, it, fast to its axis,

to use endless webs or aprons JJ, passing over loose rollers supportedin any convenient way and following the course of the fiber, which,being placed between these endless webs, is

In some cases-as, for go supported by them on its passage through'thecistern 0 and between the final squeezing-rolls I I, from which it goesto the swift H, which is now made to revolve by contact with the lowerweb, J.

We find it also advantageous at times, in order to thoroughly saturatethe fiber, to subject it to blows from one or more rapidly-vibratingmallets, K K, which receive their motions from a cross-shaft, k, drivenby a suitable connection, and to which they are connected by the rod andcrank k When a convenient length of the treated fiber has been woundonto the swift H it is in the form of a skein, and the process ofcollecting the lap or long, narrow bat is completed. The next process isto remove the swift H with the fiber wound on it, or the skein may beremoved from the swift in the usual manner well known in doffing spunyarn. This skein itself may be, but preferably the skein and the swiftonwhich it is wound are, taken to the drying rooin, in which theatmosphere is maintained at the proper temperature, preferably bysteam-pipes. The swift H, with the skein on it, is placed in suitablebearings and made to rotate, usually by means of belting froman.overhead shaft, passing around the pulley fixed to the axis of theswift. At times, however, we find it convenient to take several skejnsto the dryingroom and slip them onto a longer swift of about the samediameter, caused to rotate as above stated. Steam-pipes L are placedimmediately beneath the swifts and rapidly evaporate the moisture, whichflies to the outside of the skein 'by the centrifugal action of therevolving swifts. It is evident that yarn, when dried in the skein inthe usual way, may also'be dried byour improved process, by treating theskein of yarn as we treat the skein of lap when taken from the firstswift. When the skein of fiber is wound on to some considerablethickness,

and when the motion of the swift is rapid, we find it advantageous tosurround the fiber with a cloth to prevent it being thrown off bycentrifugal action. This cloth does not impede the passage and rapidevaporation of the moisture.

By the above process the hot air is allowed to circulate all through theskein of fiber, and we are enabled to complete the drying moreconveniently and in less time than by any other method with which we.are acquainted. The fiber is also left in a better state formanufacture. No part of it is partially baked, as is often the case whenthe fiber has been dried by contact with a hot cylinder. The color isevenly laid, since the dyeing-liquid cannot fall by gravity to thebottom part' of a mass of fiber, as it does when the fiber is collectedas heretofore, and give this part a different shade of color. When dry,the swift, with the skein still on it, may be taken to anothermachinesuch as a drawing-frame, slubbing-frame, or carding-engine andthe long, narrow lap or bat be drawn directly from the swift.

We prefer in many cases to obtain our long bat orlap direct from asection of cardingenginessay of six, twelve, or eighteen machines suchas are ordinarily used in American mills--removing the lap-head, but insome cases retaining the drawing-head. In the drawings we have shown onemachine only, which may be considered as the last in the severaloperations of saturating, bleaching, dyeing, or oiling cotton or otherfiber.

The fiber may be passed continuously from a section of carding-en ginesthrough the other machines, or may be collected on a reel from eachmachine, or may be collected in a skip or other receptacle in all butthe last machine, from which it may be reeled in the form of a skein,for the purposes hereinbefore set forth, or be collected and carried tothe drying-room and there reeled.

Among the advantages to be gained by our improvement are the following:Economy of plant, particularly in drying, speed, and uniformity in theprocesses of dyeing and dry; ing, dispensing with the second operationof opening and scutching, economy of dyes, and economy in storing thefiber after it has been dried.

We claim as our invention-- 1. The process of drying fibrous materialcollected in skeins, herein described, consisting in subjecting theskeins to the combined influence of centrifugal force and hot air,substantially as set forth.

2. In a machine for saturating a long, narrow lap or hat of cotton orlike fiber, the combination of a hot-water cistern in which the vesselcontaining the dye or other liquid is immersed, a series of rolls overand under which the fiber passes,one or more rolls of the series beingsupported in boxes fixed to the frame, the other rolls being supportedin boxes sliding in ways on the frame and held against each other andthe fixed roll by weighted levers, rapidly-vibrating mallets, endlesswebs or aprons, squeezing-rolls, and a swift or reel adapted'to rotationin a heated atmosphere.

3. For bleaching, dyeing, oiling, or saturating a long lap or bat ofcotton or like fiber by a continuous process, the combination of asection of carding-engines, as described, with a hot-water cisternhaving a vessel containing the dye or other liquid immersed therein, thefixed and sliding rolls, the weighted levers for holding these rollsagainst each other, the webs or aprons, the vibrating mallets, thesqueezing-rolls, and a swift or reel for collecting the bat in the formof a skein,all arranged together substantially as and for the purposehereinbefore set forth.

ALFRED HIGGINS. FREDERICK WILKINSON. Witnesses:

JOSEPH LYTLE, JOSEPH HOWARTH, Clerks with Messrs. Ormerod (E: Allen,Solicitors,

Manchester.

